We're Here For You 7/24

Beware Of Typhoid And Paratyphoid Diseases!

Typhoid fever is a systemic infectious disease. The bacterium Salmonella typhi causes this disease. This disease, which is unique to humans, symptoms such as abdominal pain, high fever, clouding of consciousness, and headache occur.

The symptoms of Paratyphoid disease caused by Salmonella paratyphi A, B, and C bacteria are similar to typhoid but milder than typhoid.

Typhoid fever is transmitted by ingesting food and water in which the urine and feces of people carrying this disease mix. At the same time, typhoid fever is observed similarly if sewage water is mixed with drinking and utility water. As a result of the spread of the disease by the distributors dealing with the food business with typhoid fever, the disease can become an epidemic among those who consume the food. The disease can also be transmitted to someone else with the hands by holding the items used by patients carrying this disease. In addition, flies can carry the typhoid microbe with their feet to transmit food and water.

Typhoid fever develops if a person consumes raw or undercooked water and food with a lot of typhoid bacteria. The disease incubation period is, on average, 10-14 days. A symptom of typhoid fever is a quiet onset with headache, weakness, malaise, and slowly rising fever. Usually, by the end of a week, the fever eventually reaches 39-39,5˚C.

When the second week passed, the patient's fever continues to be high, and the patient's consciousness is blurred. The patient's face is pale; their lips are dry and cracked. Gas collects in the abdomen, and the tongue is rusty. About half of typhoid patients have diarrhea, and more than half have constipation. At the end of the third week, the patient's fever begins to decrease; after the fourth week, the fever decreases to normal.

Tables such as intestinal bleeding, myocarditis, gallbladder, and biliary tract infection, arthritis, orchitis, soft tissue infections, and liver and spleen abscesses are some common complications in typhoid fever than paratyphoid. Today, the mortality rate due to typhoid fever is about 1-2%.

People with the disease's bacteria in their feces or urine are called carriers, even if they are not sick or have had the disease. If the carrier continues for more than a year, this condition is called chronic carrier. Antibiotic treatment is applied for 14 days in typhoid and paratyphoid fever, while treatment is continued for 4-6 weeks to eliminate chronic carriage and local organ infections.

Although various vaccines protect against the disease, their protective effect is not 100%. In short, it is not right to rely on the vaccine. To protect against Salmonella infections, the food and water consumed must be clean, personal hygiene rules must be fully implemented, chronic carriers must be identified and treated, and a healthy waste removal system must be established. People working in the food and water-related jobs should also be prevented from being carriers. In addition, the toilets used by typhoid patients should be disinfected, and hands should be washed after contact with the patients. For example, while the number of findings in the USA was 36,000 in 1920, it has decreased to about 500 findings per year since 1968, thanks to the food hygiene and clean water measures.

Updated at : 15-09-2022